"This guy, he started his counterattack run the moment I passed the ball. Was he so sure I'd get intercepted?!" From a distance, trailing behind Shinichi, Charles, with a twisted expression, was giving it his all but still couldn't catch up to the increasingly distant figure.
"Damn it, that monster's on the counter again. This is bad," Chapa, with his explosive hairstyle, nervously watched Shinichi charging towards him. He never imagined a player so young could exert such immense pressure.
He kept observing Shinichi's footwork, adjusting his position, hoping to slightly delay Shinichi's advance until his teammates could fall back.
"He's coming!" Just as he held his breath and bent down, ready for an intense defensive battle with Shinichi, Chapa was shocked to find his body completely unresponsive.
Under Shinichi's indifferent gaze, he felt as if he had physically plunged into an icy abyss.
Every muscle in his body seemed frozen; no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't move an inch. He could only stand helplessly, watching Shinichi effortlessly bypass him.
"Trash should just stay in the audience," Shinichi's calm voice echoed across the field. In his eyes, translucent ice spikes suddenly appeared around everyone on the court.
As Shinichi turned and dribbled, shattering those ice spikes, all opponents attempting to intercept him involuntarily halted, staring in horror at Shinichi's retreating figure.
As the two defenders from P-X-G who closed in on Shinichi were successively dragged into his icy world and frozen into statues, Shinichi had completely shattered P-X-G's defensive line.
By the time they managed to break free from the influence of the icy world, Shinichi had already charged to the goal and unleashed a powerful shot.
"Ugh! Here it comes again, that feeling!" Tokimitsu, who was temporarily acting as the goalkeeper, also had his weakness exposed by Shinichi. As the illusory ice spikes shattered under the bombardment of the cannon-like shot, the whistle blew.
GOOOOOOOAL!!!!
Ubers 2:0 P-X-G
"Hey, Chapa, what's going on? Why did you just freeze there?" Charles, who arrived late, looked at Chapa with clear dissatisfaction, only to find that the usually reliable P-X-G defender was now pale, sweating profusely, and visibly shaken. "Chapa?"
"I... I'm fine... It's just..." Chapa gasped for breath, struggling to come to terms with what had just happened. He couldn't believe that someone who had already experienced the heights of the top five leagues could be so thoroughly dominated by a complete rookie. But...
"It's impossible... We can't win! That guy... he's an unstoppable force!"
Chapa closed his eyes in anguish. As Ego had said, this invitation had gathered young talents of similar age to the Blue Prison members.
These young players, who had risen above countless others, naturally carried their own pride.
But at this moment, the overwhelming gap in talent was like an insurmountable chasm, threatening to crush the spirit of this young defender.
"I was trying my best to anticipate his moves, but I didn't even have the chance to compete with him. Just a glance from him, and I found my body completely frozen. That guy is a devil—he has superpowers!"
Clearly, Chapa, who had been overwhelmed by Shinichi's dominance in such an exaggerated manner, was now rambling incoherently.
Charles didn't bother comforting him. Instead, he shrugged at Loki on the sidelines, who immediately understood and substituted the visibly shaken Chapa to let him cool down.
Meanwhile, Charles lowered his head, deep in thought.
"Although Chapa's description is a bit exaggerated, there's still something to take from it. The body freezing when trying to act... Could it be that he subtly shifted the opponent's center of gravity somehow?" Charles recalled Shinichi's recent movements but still couldn't quite pinpoint it. To him, Shinichi had just made a simple change of direction—why did it have such an effect?
"It's his eyes."
Just as Charles was pondering, Rin's voice chimed in.
Rin, with a grim expression, stared at Shinichi's retreating figure and explained in a low voice, "Shinichi's vision and reaction speed are exceptional—terrifying, even. Even before this phase, he loved using his superhuman reaction speed to crush his opponents."
"As soon as an opponent makes a move, whether on offense or defense, Shinichi can instantly read their actions and react accordingly, even preempting them. It's as if he can predict the future."
"His current technique is like taking his old habit of passively observing and reacting to opponents' moves and turning it into an active ability," Rin explained, pointing to the other two defenders who had also been "frozen" by Shinichi.
"Shinichi's movements aren't particularly special—aside from his incredible physical abilities, it's just a simple change of direction. But he reads where your center of gravity is shifting next and exploits the exact moment you start to lean. Even though you feel like you haven't moved and think your center of gravity is stable, in reality, you've already started to shift. Because of inertia, you can't immediately adjust or reverse your balance, creating the illusion of being 'frozen.'"
"That bastard, in such a short time, he's gotten even stronger and developed a whole new skill," Rin said, his voice tinged with frustration. Despite his own progress during this time, it seemed he still couldn't keep up with Shinichi's rapid growth. If this continued, the gap between them would only widen.
"This sounds almost magical. Is this even something a human can do?" Charles remarked casually, resting his hands behind his head. "If what you're saying is true, then as long as Shinichi wants, he can freeze anyone at will. Doesn't that make him invincible?"
"But I don't believe there's such a thing as a truly unbeatable skill. Even if there is, I'll find a way to overcome it!" Before Rin could respond, Charles, who had seemed somewhat demoralized earlier, suddenly perked up, stretching his body with renewed vigor.
As he finished his brief warm-up, a fiery determination lit up his eyes. "That's right, this is what makes it interesting. Thinking you can just crush us and use us as stepping stones? Not on my watch. I'm the trickster, after all!"
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